Vermifuges may simply cause the dislodgement of
lumenal parasites... their eradication is a separate matter.

See the previous and next files re REAL vermifuges
and anthelminthics.

To Marco- Help with Moray Eel disease
3/15/18
Hi!
<Hello Adrian.>
I could really need some help treat our infected moray eels. They have gotten a
blood sucking worm that only attacks the eels. It look like brown hairy looking
strings.
<Looks nasty. Can't definitely ID them, though.>
We have tried cleaner wrasse and shrimp and freshwater dip. My boss confirms its
not anchor worms and we don't have any medicine currently to treat it. The only
working solution we have found is removing it manually, but
they spread again after a short while.
<Can you get Flubenol 5% in Norway? (I think so) It's often used for e.g.
chickens or pigs as well as fishes and kills a wide range of internal and
external worms. Only use it in a hospital tank without sand (but some PVC pipes
as caves) or use it as baths/dips. Siphon the bottom of the tank for any eggs
(or cysts depending on what they are exactly. If you can't get Flubenol you can
also try some product with Praziquantel.>
The eels came infected from Indonesia but it took a while before we noticed it.
Best Regards Adrian
<Good luck. Marco.>
*I attached a picture of the worms
<Nasty!>

AEFW Problem... they said our flatworms were no fun --
11/27/09
Hello,
I discovered my 1" Lokani frag had been decimated by a few
AEFW.
<Acroporid eaters>
I was trying to figure out why it was losing so much color, checked
water param.s, Alk/cal. lighting scheme, all was fine...had no idea
what was going on. Didn't suspect AEFW at first because i
didn't see anything. After a second closer look a couple weeks
later, light brown patches, used a pair of tweezers to see if they
would move, they sure did and confirmed that they are indeed aefw. Read
up on it, not any known cures....
<Mmm, actually>
was wondering if you know if Salifert's Flatworm eXIT stuff
works?
<I do and it does>
I have some on hand, i bet it works for regular Planaria, will it kill
AEFW too?
<Yep>
I added a Sixline wrasse i had in a holding tank in hopes of at least
putting a predator in there, doubt he will really solve or even reduce
the problem. The flatworms have not overwhelmed tank yet, but my one
Lokani
frag is a goner, and starting to see a couple of my solitaryensis
pieces lose color at the bases, tell tale signs they are laying eggs
there and starting to create a stronghold in the tank.
<Bunk!>
so let me know if there are ways to treat the whole tank. I would hate
to clip out and quarantine every Acro to see one flatworm creep out
from the liverock and reinfest all the quarantined pieces again.
Let me know,
Thanks,
Matthew
<There are anthelminthics... Levamisole is a fave... Prazi/quantel...
just got to make sure that the chemical aftermath of kill off
doesn't take all else with it... Lots of new water pre-made to
switch out, chemical
filtrants (GAC, PolyFilter...) to add. Bob Fenner>

Parasitic Worm on Midas Blenny 11/13/08
Hello, <<Hi>> Thanks so much for the wonderful and
informative website and for answering questions so promptly!
<<Mmm, not so prompt with this one'¦ But thank you for
the kind words>> We have a 90gal reef tank with a 30gal sump.
Water levels are all stable - 0 ammonia, 0 nitrite, pH 8.4, calcium
430, nitrates are a little bit high at 10-20 but we are working on that
with higher volume water changes. <<Hmm, do also try to determine
the source of the Nitrates. Your source water possibly?>> We
moved the tank from our old house approximately two months ago; all the
fish have been doing well after the move - eating, growing, etc. We
currently have: 1 true Percula clown, 1 hippo tang, <<Really
needs a bigger tank'¦ this is a large (to 12"), active,
and very robust species that may suffer psychologically from just
growing up in a too small environment>> 1 yellow tang, 1 green
wrasse, 1 small three stripe damsel, <<This very aggressive fish
may pose a problem as it matures/grows larger>> 1 flame angel,
and 1 Midas blenny. We also have a coral banded shrimp (which is
getting large and a bit aggressive) and a fire shrimp as well as
several hermit crabs and snails. Everyone has been happy, and none are
new to the tank. Last week we introduced a group of mushroom coral, a
Red Sea pulsing Xenia, and a Turbinaria cup coral (spelling? - sorry!).
<<Your spelling is correct>> All are doing well. However,
yesterday morning we noticed small white very thin filamentous things
hanging from the sides of the Midas blenny. "Jenny the
Blenny," as we call her, is flashing and acting a bit stressed -
hiding in her hole in the rock more than usual. <<Mmm,
yes'¦ This behavior is indicative of a parasitic infection.
These ï¿½filamentous thingsï¿½ are likely
Trematodes/Flukes>> She is eating and does swim around. There is
no tissue ulceration as of yet. No discoloration. The parasites are
only a few millimeters long and appear solidly attached.
<<yes>> The LFS said it was probably anchor worm.
<<Would probably be more robust>> However, everything I
have found about this organism indicates that it is primarily a
freshwater parasite. <<Hmm'¦ I do believe there are
saltwater varieties of Lernaea (Anchor Worm). Though I can't say
that is the case here>> Any other suggestions? <<As
stated'¦ Trematodes'¦>> We have introduced, per
the LFS, 2 cleaner shrimp to help rid her of these unwanted visitors.
Please advise per likely causative organism and treatment if possible.
<<Try a temperature and pH adjusted freshwater dip first (see
here and the related links in blue:
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/dips_baths.htm) as this may do the trick
without the need to chemically treat/poison the fish. If you find more
drastic measures are required, see the info on our site re treatment of
parasitic disease. A good place to start would be here
(http://www.wetwebmedia.com/marparasitcurefaqs.htm)>> (Shall we
treat the whole tank????) <<No'¦ Segregate the affected
fish for treatment>> Thanks much, Rebecca <<Hope this
helps, EricR>>

Naso Tangs Hello Bob, <Hello Sanjay> I'm unsure if
you remember, but approx 3 months ago I wrote to you regarding Naso
tangs and intestinal worms. My plan was to investigate intestinal worms
in Naso tangs as a reason for their decline in captivity.
<Interesting possibility> I purchased a healthy six inch Naso and
introduced it to my QT system. It settled in well and after
a week or so I began my experiment. To half a cube of
frozen food I added approx 20mg of an anti-thelmic preparation called
Mebendazole. I obtained the liquid form which sticks to
frozen food. I fed this twice a day for two days without any ill
effects to the Naso. However I did not see any worms.
<Have you taken a look to and through the scientific literature on
issues involving such worms and Surgeonfishes?> On the third day,
hey presto, hundreds of tiny round worms (confirmed by the local vet)
about 1 cm in length. Nasty looking organisms might I add.
<Have any pix?> The QT tank had a little live rock, which proved
to be a great mistake. Many worms sought refuge in this
rock. At the same time the anti-thelmic agent seemed to
dislodge the worms, but did not kill them. I tried to remove
as many as I could. The tang re-ingested the worms and
began to decline in the same manner as my previous Naso did in my main
system. The Naso became increasingly thin over a few days. Eventually
the tang died from what I suspect to be an over load of worms. I
decided to discard the live rock, but as I was about to do so, I
spotted a very large round worm about half an inch thick and six inches
in length. My conclusion from the above may provide a reason for why
Naso tangs decline for no apparent reason in captivity. <One
hypothesis... how will or might you go about devising experiments to
prove, disprove it?> I am not repeating this exercise as I do not
want to be responsible for another Naso death. However I believe that
importers of these beautiful creatures may find my studies interesting
and take on the responsibility of de-worming these fish before they are
passed on to retailers, (in an Ideal world). <... better
to have a larger sample size... and more "cures" folks can
attempt> I also conclude that those who read this post and decide to
de-worm a fish in QT, must do so with either a more
effective anti-thelmic drug or a greater concentration of
Mebendazole. Ensuring the tank is devoid of live rock is
also essential. <Okay> Hope this has been of interest to you,
thanks in advance for taking an interest. Regards Sanjay Patel <And
thank you for writing. Bob Fenner>

- Parasite Problems - Hello guys/gals I have a problem with
one of my tanks and wanted to see if you guys could help me. I have a
75 gallon tank in the garage with about 80 lbs of live rock with a blue
dot puffer, a clown trigger and a Hawkfish that is my holding tank
until my 375 gets in. Well everybody was doing fine for the longest
time then about a month ago I noticed that my blue dot puffer was
getting very skinny but he would still eat a lot therefore I went from
feeding every other day like I've always done to feeding every day
even though the other 2 guys were very fat. Well even with me feeding
every day the puffer kept getting skinnier and skinnier until he died a
few days ago and now my Clown Trigger is starting to look skinny. Is
there some sort of disease or parasite that could cause this or am I
just not feeding them enough. <Yes, I'm afraid so... nematodes
and Cestodes are the most common culprit - like tapeworms, they can
out-compete for nutrients.> I had the blue dot puffer for over a
year and he was a nice size for the longest time. I feed them all sorts
of stuff such as Mysis Shrimp, Blood Worms and Squid. Thanks for your
help. <Do try to get a hold of some Fenbendazole from your local
veterinarian. Your best bet is to put this fish in quarantine for about
three weeks and treat the quarantine tank directly with the
Fenbendazole for that entire time. The Noga book of Fish Disease
recommends 2mg/liter or 7.6mg/gallon of tank water. This should give
your fish the upper hand against these parasites. Cheers, J -- >